What does a positive test result mean?

Diagnostic tests

A positive result with a diagnostic test means that the virus was found in your sample and that you are likely infected. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re still contagious, especially if you no longer have symptoms, but you’ll still want to self-isolate and contact your healthcare provider regarding next steps. In fact, many people continue to test positive long after their symptoms have resolved.

If you are self-isolating at home, the ICMR has recommendations on how to tell if you need to stop isolating. But you’ll want to follow the directions from your healthcare provider or local health department since they may have more specific requirements.

There’s also a small chance that it could be a false positive, meaning that you’re not actually infected with the virus. Recently, the FDA issued an alert regarding potential false positives with antigen tests.

Serological tests

If you test positive for antibodies with a serological test, you may have had a recent or previous infection from the virus. Serological tests should not be used to diagnose an active infection. But if you test positive for antibodies and are experiencing symptoms, you’ll want to check if you have an active infection using a diagnostic test.

False positives are also possible with serological tests. The likelihood that a positive is really a positive depends on how many people in the population have been infected. A positive serological test does not necessarily mean you are now immune to the virus.

What does a negative test result mean?

Diagnostic tests

With every test, there’s a limit at which you can still detect a signal. A negative result with the molecular test means that the virus that causes COVID-19 was not found in the sample above the limit of detection, but it is still possible to have very low levels of the virus in the body.

A false negative is also possible, where you actually do have an active infection. This can happen if you test too early or too late in the infection. Compared to other diagnostic tests, antigen tests are fast, but they’re not as good at picking up a signal, which means they’re more likely to produce false negatives.

If your results come back negative, you and your provider should consider whether that makes sense given your symptoms, travel history, and other possible ways of having been exposed. You may need to confirm your results using a standard molecular test.

Serological tests

If you test negative with a serological test, it is possible that you were never exposed to the virus. It is also possible, especially if you had an asymptomatic or mild infection, that antibodies you developed have decreased over time and are not being picked up by the test.

The bottom line

If you have an active COVID-19 infection, the molecular test will generally be more accurate unless you’ve started developing antibodies to the virus. The serological test will be able to tell you if you’ve had the infection and recovered. Rapid response, point-of-care tests and at-home tests are also available.

Although testing has increased, it may take longer than usual to get your results as labs are working to process the samples. If you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and do not require immediate medical attention, contact your medical provider, or state or local health department to see if you should be tested